Chapter 76: 2-Chain Magic Genius (2)
“I was going to tell you when you came today anyway, Dane,” Ernest said with a very gloomy expression. “Actually, I was quite embarrassed in the hall.”
“What?”
“I was only protected!”
I shook my head. “You know that’s not why, right?”
The reason I was trying to teach Ernest how to protect himself was because of Bronn’s gang. It was something Ernest would have to overcome someday.
“You did your part. If it weren’t for you, Ernest, we wouldn’t have even made it to the hall, and we’d probably have been caught and tortured by now.”
“Still. I can’t be protected forever!”
I knew what he meant. Just like Ernest said, we had to foster his sense of independence.
“Alright. Then let’s start by finding out what suits you.”
“Yeah!”
I opened my subspace and poured out my weapons first.
Sword.
Spear.
Axe.
Morning star.
Gauntlet.
I even pulled out a bow and some arrows.
These were all things that I had just grabbed from the family storehouse because I thought I might use them someday.
“Is there anything you like?”
“Uh, um…”
Actually, you couldn’t tell by looking at it. You had to try and use it to find out what you were talented at.
“…Firstly, I don’t think the sword’s for me.”
Maybe because he’d been on a battlefield, but he got a feel for it. The sword didn’t suit Ernest. The spear didn’t suit him either, and the axe and the morning star were the same.
“Hmm. I guess since you’ll be using it for self-defense… How about a bow?” Leila suggested.
“The bow is good.”
For support, there was nothing better. In fact, Ernest wouldn’t be on the front lines of battle very often. In that sense, it would be perfect to teach him basic self-defense while also teaching archery for rear support. During the training, he would naturally build up his muscle strength.
“I want to learn archery!” Ernest’s eyes sparkled.
“Alright. Then come here.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s start with push-ups.”
“…P-push-ups?”
I tilted my head. “Were you planning on shooting arrows right away?”
“N-no?”
“What are you going to do with those frail arms?”
People often had the misunderstanding that to use a bow, you needed to be agile, not strong. The act of notching and releasing the bowstring each time, drawing and holding the bowstring, not just shooting once, but drawing the bow continuously whenever necessary.
All of this required strength.
“Do you want to try?”
My words were soon proven true.
“Wh-why is this…?” Ernest couldn’t even string the bow.
Unable to stand watching, I helped instead, Ernest picked up his bow with an awkward expression.
“Hold the arrow with your thumb and index finger as if pinching it. Don’t hold it too tightly or it might slip. Pull it straight down, thinking that you are pulling the arrow, not the string. Like that.”
“Euuuuggggh!”
Ernest seemed to be pulling the string with all his might. By the way, the bow I brought had quite a bit of tension.
Tang!
But the arrow flew to the wrong place.
“…Nothing is easy.”
“All weapons are like that. Anyway, do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…Yeah.”
Ernest returned the bow and arrows to me without a word.
“But Dane, I’m just asking.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know how to use a bow?”
Wait. Come to think of it, I shot an arrow a few times in my past life, probably because I was a soldier. However, in this life, there was little opportunity to practice.
“Roughly?”
“Oh, show me!”
“What, Dane? You can use a bow, too?”
Leila also chimed in.
I strung the bow without any difficulty in front of the two. It had been a very long time.
‘Well, I guess I could just shoot.’
Creeak.
After I notched an arrow to the bow, I pulled it back slowly.
Ki-ki-ki…
The target was a tree not far away.
“What, Dane? Are you good at archery?”
“No. I’m just trying.”
Leila also looked over at some point.
Actually, I hadn’t shot a bow much. I just shot it occasionally when I went on a mission.
By the way, something was a little strange. I pulled the string with the arrow on it, but something…
Taaaang!
…felt strange?
Craaaack!
I was stunned to see the arrow pierce through a thick tree that looked to be at least a hundred years old.
“What on earth?”
The arrow didn’t stick, but went through the tree?
“W-wow…This is insane.”
Ernest’s exclamations could be heard from the side.
What was this? Could this be the result of having one more circle?
It was a result I had never imagined.
“ …Just do it all, Dane. What? Just trying it once? You’re kidding…”
I heard Leila’s dejected voice.
I was confused.
The Drenik Empire, famous for its mechanical engineering, the empire I fought in my previous life, also had Hexa class warriors. I had witnessed their majesty many times in my past life.
Their majesty was such that even armies of thousands, not to mention hundreds of thousands, couldn’t easily attack them, but what made people fear and respect them was their acts that transcended human limitations.
Perhaps… it was when we were attacked by the Altheon Empire. At the time, the forces of Lord Argonis, known as the guardian deity of the Drenik Empire, were surrounded.
Everyone thought it was the end, but he returned leisurely, having slain hundreds of soldiers and knights alone.
It was then that I saw it.
The magical power that wrapped around Lord Argonis’ sword and the destructive power that cut down armor, weapons, and everything it touched. Even the way it took shape and was released, engulfing everything around it.
“You have to be at least Penta class to fight by infusing mana into something other than your own body.”
It was just as Leila said. The method of increasing the destructive power of a weapon by imbuing it with mana was only possible for high-level warriors. It was obviously extremely difficult to infuse mana that existed within the body into something out of it and maintain it.
For reference, I almost got to that stage in my past life. The problem was that I had skipped the whole process and had reached the stage where I could inject mana into something and just send it flying.
“Similarly, the way you charged a weapon with mana and sent it flying is also the same.”
Just like I did now.
But—
“But this is more difficult.”
What I had accomplished now was more difficult than fighting with mana in the weapon in my hand.
“Why?”
Leila answered Ernest’s question neatly, “Theoretically, you can’t control it. Strictly speaking, you can’t maintain it. You have to continuously release mana while in contact with the weapon, but how can you do that when the weapon has completely left your hands?”
Unless an arrow was enchanted, there were limits to its destructive power and penetration. No, even if it was enchanted, it wouldn’t make sense for it to fly through such a thick tree.
“We just saw something ridiculous.” Leila looked at me as if she didn’t like something. “What are you?”
“I don’t know either,” I shrugged.
I was surprised too. I just did it without thinking. In fact, I felt like some kind of magic was going into it, but I didn’t try to control it. I never thought it would turn out like that.
“…Is it possible because he’s Dane?”
“But this is a bit too much!” Leila grumbled.
Should I apologize?
“Who in the world shoots an arrow through a tree? Dane, this is a whole other realm! Maybe you can shoot through rocks, too?”
“Why don’t I try?”
While I was at it, I knocked another arrow on the bow and pulled it back, aiming at a rock. That was when that strange feeling from before came back to me. I didn’t know what was happening until just now, but this time I could feel it.
The feeling of my mana flowing toward the arrow.
Taang!
The moment I let go of the string…
Swoosh!
…an arrow filled with mana flew and lodged itself in a rock.
Thunk!
Debris scattered everywhere, and we could see…
“…Wow.”
“…How is this the Academy?”
…the arrow that almost pierced through the rock.
“…Damn.”
It wasn’t possible before because it was something completely new and unfamiliar.
2-chain of Ancient Magic.
The power was truly amazing.
So, to summarize:
At 1-chain, the flow of mana became visible.
At 2-chain, I could now imbue items with mana.
I’d have to try it out a bit more to find out, but my current conclusion was that it trapped a certain amount of mana in an object, causing it to explode upon contact.
This was a concept from a completely different realm. It might be possible if it were a magical item or bomb that was made ‘that way’ in the first place, but it was impossible with an arrow made of wood, iron, and feathers without even a detonator.
“Is this possible too?”
I picked up a stone and threw it.
Bang!
…It was.
It wasn’t as sharp as the arrow, but it was powerful enough to shatter rocks.
“It’s not just the bow.”
This opened up endless possibilities for use. Of course, I didn’t think I’d be able to use it often. After all, this skill required more concentration than you might think.
Still… this was no joke. It seemed like it could be useful for throwing daggers as well.
If 2-chain was like this, what kind of abilities would I have when I obtained another bit of condensed Ancient Magic and reached 3-chain?
In general, adding an extra circle was more of a proof of qualification than a step. However, Ancient Magic was definitely different.
At this point, I too started to get curious.
“What kind of place was Archana?”
How could one create such powerful and pure magic, not to mention such strength as each circle increased? No wonder everyone longed for it like it was a utopia.
It was no wonder that my eldest sister, who had made a name for herself as a mage, was shocked and fell over.
I needed to go to the library and look at the old documents again soon. Now that I had one more circle, there would be more characters that could be deciphered.
There was one more thing.
“Ernest, you said back then that the hall was designed by Saul Hangston?”
“Oh, yeah! Hah! Built by Saint Aimar, but designed by Saul Hangston!”
Saul Hangston, the legendary mage. Since he was mentioned when we deciphered the map, we should also look into him. Maybe he had something to do with Archana.
A legendary mage… something smelled off about him.
The clues were still scattered here and there like fragments, but at least we had some pieces?
“Um… Dane. Phew! But, phew. How long do I have to… phew! Do this?”
Meanwhile, Ernest groaned while doing the push-ups I had him do.
“You did three sets? Let’s do one more.”
“O-one more set?”
“Yeah.”
A strong mind resided in a strong body. Ernest, who couldn’t even pull the string properly, needed to first undergo physical training.
First of all, no matter what he learned, the most important thing was the foundations.
“Wh-what about learning magic first…? Ugh!”
“Body first. You’re too thin right now. You’re like a tree branch.”
“A-alright…” Ernest frowned.
Suddenly, the pests from the bodybuilding club came to mind. If I sent Ernest to them, would it be possible to train his body?
Anyway, this was just the beginning. We had to find the clues one by one. I felt a little more empowered now that I had another goal.
“Oh, Dane. Do you have a lecture this afternoon?”
At that time, Leila, who was playing with Karnas after finishing her training, spoke up.
“Yes. Spearmanship. Why?”
“Then let’s go check out the club room in the evening. I asked my seniors this morning, and they said we need to secure an empty spot quickly.”
“Oh, right.”
Since we’d already created a club, we needed to have a base.
That was good.
